


Making A Bad Day Better

by nepenthe_writer



Series: Meet Ugly [3]
Category: Marvel Cinematic Universe
Genre: Bad Days, Ice Cream, M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-11-07
Updated: 2020-11-07
Packaged: 2021-03-09 06:07:00
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,284
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/27440035
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/nepenthe_writer/pseuds/nepenthe_writer
Summary: James has just had the worst day ever and only a specific flavor of ice cream can make it better. To bad someone just took the last carton.
Relationships: James "Bucky" Barnes/Tony Stark
Series: Meet Ugly [3]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1603822
Comments: 4
Kudos: 92





	Making A Bad Day Better

**Author's Note:**

> For those with more delicate sensibilities, there is a good amount of foul language used to describe James's bad day. Captain America would not approve. Judge for yourself.

James strode through the grocery store with a strut that made it clear he was a man on a mission and that people better get out of his way or risk being moved without their say. He had just had an extremely crappy day and he wasn’t in the mood to deal with anymore shit tonight.

First his car hadn’t started making him late to work. Then his boss had dumped a bunch of new work on his desk and proceeded to yell at him for not anticipating that this work needed to get done and be a team player to pick up his coworker’s slack on top of his own responsibilities. Someone stole his lunch out of the fridge and he didn’t have extra time to go out and buy one so he was starving now. Steve had gotten arrested after punching a guy that had been harassing a woman on the street and James had to bail him out after work instead of going straight home like he had wanted to at that point to just forget about the day.

It had just been the worst day and all James wanted was to stop by the grocery store and pick up a carton of ice cream and then head right home. Not just any ice cream either. There was one specific brand of ice cream that James wanted. Chocolate fudge ice cream with brownie chunks mixed in. It was the only thing that could make any of this horrible day remotely better.

Turning sharply down the cooler aisle James made a beeline straight for the ice cream that would be the only balm to an otherwise shit-filled day. Down at the other end of the aisle right where James was headed was another man standing right in his way. James scowl deepened at the thought of having even so much as one more thing delaying him from a night laid out on his couch eating ice cream straight out of the container. At this point James didn’t even care about being rude. If the man didn’t step back he had no problem forcing his way in front of him to get what he had come here for.

Before he even had the chance to do that however, the man opened the door to the very cooler that James was headed for and pulled out a container of ice cream that even from a distance James could see was what he was coming to get. Picking up his pace, James hurried forward just as the other man let the door close behind him and begin to walk away. He had only made it a few steps when James got to the door and ripped it open.

When James looked inside to find the one thing that could brighten his dark day, his mood fell even further. The shelf was empty of the extra chocolatey concoction that he wanted more than anything else. Whipping his head around to stare at the back of the man still walking away from him James wasn’t even conscious of moving before his feet were taking him in the direction of the man that had his ultimate prize.

“Hey!” James said though it came out as more of a shout as he hurried after the man to catch up to him.

He was loud enough that the man in question jumped nearly a foot in the air as he spun around to see who was yelling at him. Up close James couldn’t help but be taken in by the messy brown hair and wide chocolate eyes that looked up at him with a small trace of fear in them. The fear pierced James’s heart because he never wanted to scare someone who wasn’t doing anything to deserve it but right now he couldn’t seem to make himself stop.

“Sorry,” James growled out trying to keep his irritation under control. It wasn’t this guy’s fault that he’d had a crappy day and just wanted a specific carton of excess sugar. “Didn’t mean to startle you. Listen, I’ve had the worst day ever and all that’s gotten me through is that thought of that ice cream that you have there in your hands. Normally I wouldn’t care if someone else wanted the same thing, just means that you have good taste, but you have the last carton and man is there any way that I could convince you to pick something else and let me have that?”

The other man, who James would admit was very cute in just about any other circumstance, looked down at the ice cream in his hands and then back up at James. He clutched the sweet treat closer to his chest and took a half step back as though afraid that James just might rip the dessert right out of his hands if he didn’t willingly hand it over.

“I’m sorry but I’ve had a bad day too and this is my favorite kind,” the man said.

James scowled even harder. While he wasn’t exactly surprised by the man’s response, there was no way that James would have given up the ice cream if he had been in the other man’s shoes, he could admit that he was still disappointed. This was the only store that carried this brand of ice cream and while he could go home without it, he really had his heart set on it and this was just going to be one more disappointment on top of everything else that had already happened today. Something of his feelings must have shown on James’s face though give the other man’s next reaction.

Biting his lip, the other man hesitated for a minute before taking a step closer to James. “I know this might sound crazy but what if we share it? You can come over to my apartment and we can take two spoons to this and meet in the middle.”

James’s head whipped up at the unexpected suggestion. He would never in a million years have expected someone to offer to share a carton of ice cream with a complete stranger. After the day he’d had, James certainly knew he wouldn’t have made the same offer if he had been the first one to get to the ice cream. That didn’t mean that he was about to turn down the more than generous offer however.

“Really?” James asked, wanting to be sure that he wasn’t misunderstanding. “You don’t even know me.”

The man just shrugged one shoulder. “I’m Tony,” he said. “Now you know me. Besides, misery loves company and what better way to get over a bad day than venting over some super chocolatey ice cream and some good company.”

A small smile graced its way onto James’s face for the first time today. “Name’s James,” he replied. “And that sounds like the best offer I’ve had all day. Since you’re offering your place at least let me pay for the ice cream.”

With that the two of them headed to the front of the store and then on to Tony’s apartment to eat their way through the entire carton of ice cream. They complained about their bad day and commiserated with one another. If, when the ice cream was gone, James leaned in to lick what had been left around Tony’s lips, well he didn’t seem to mind all that much. If Tony had offered to wash their clothes to clean off the stains from the spilled ice cream, well what else was there to do while naked than retire to Tony’s bedroom and do something to make the bad day they had each had a whole lot better.


End file.
